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Old and new go wild for pop pioneerJOHNNY O'KEEFE'S song The Wild One has been recorded by the Godfather of Punk, Iggy Pop, with the Melbourne rock band Jet to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Australia's first rock hit, "reports Patrick Donovan from The Age. > Read Full Story

JOHNNY O'KEEFE'S song The Wild One has been recorded by the Godfather of Punk, Iggy Pop, with the Melbourne rock band Jet to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Australia's first rock hit, reports our music man from The Age, Patrick Donovan.

Speaking from a recording studio in Miami yesterday, Pop said he shared an affinity with O'Keefe.

Image: History lesson … Iggy Pop, second right, with Jet. The band's singer, Nic Cester, learnt about Johnny O'Keefe from the Godfather of Punk

"I read about O'Keefe and I found it moving, particularly the part where he went to America, taking the coals to Newcastle," Iggy Pop said. "It was rough on him, but he bounced back in his way, and I can relate to that. He was described as the promoter, the bouncer, manager, accountant, the driver and the singer all in one - I really liked that."

Jet's frontman, Nic Cester, said although the band had played with members of Guns N' Roses, the Sex Pistols and the Black Crowes, this was their most memorable collaboration.

"My introduction to Johnny O'Keefe came through Iggy Pop covering his song The Wild One," he said. "Although I don't think we have been directly influenced by Johnny O'Keefe, the ripples that he created are enormous …"

The drummer, Chris Cester, said: "I used to watch Rage every Saturday and, when that visual of Iggy prowling the stage like a lion on his hands and knees came on, I was too young to understand what it all meant but I remember thinking, 'What the hell do you call that?"'